Discussion at last night's USG Senate meeting centered on how the USG interacts with students and whether the University will continue to participate in the Ivy Council.
After standard opening procedures, the focus turned to the feedback the USG has received in response to its new outreach program, which has included USG office hours and the direct solicitation of student feedback in some of the residential college dining halls.
For the most part, feedback was viewed as anemic with some suggestions bordering on the outlandish, such as complaints about the University's plumbing system and an enforced cap on the number of books that professors could assign in classes.
The lack of feedback could partially be ascribed to the recent implementation of the system, said Sonya Mirbagheri '04, USG vice president.
Discussion then turned to the Ivy Council, an organization that allows students from Ivy League schools to meet twice a year to discuss common issues and solutions.
During a heated debate that lasted nearly 30 minutes, USG treasurer Michael Kimberly '03 led the attack on future participation. He said the Ivy Council lacked structure and was not helpful to the University.
Mirbagheri countered that the University has the potential to exert its influence in positively restructuring the organization. Also, with the University's addition of four-year residential colleges, institutions such as Yale and Harvard universities, who already have such systems, could be valuable sources of information, she said.
The decision to stop sending delegations to the Ivy Council would be particularly significant because there is little chance the organization would continue to exist if Princeton were to withdraw.
The organization has already been hurt by Harvard's recent decision to leave, USG president Nina Langsam '03 said.
Reaching no apparent conclusion, the USG was unable to muster enough votes to end debate and bring the matter to a vote at that meeting.
Discussion will continue at the next meeting after USG members have had a chance to discuss the issue with constituents.
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